Types of Divorce The many ways of breaking up

 

There are two types of grounds for divorce: grounds based on a fault and no fault. Grounds based on fault may permit a party to obtain an absolute divorce within 12 months and could serve as a factor considered by the court in determining alimony or a marital award. There are two no-fault grounds for divorce. The most common is a 12-month separation, which means that the parties have lived separate and apart without resuming cohabitation for at least a period of 12 months. The second no-fault ground is a divorce by mutual consent which requires the parties not have children and resolve all their property issues.

If you believe your spouse is responsible for the divorce, you may want to consider some grounds based on fault.

1) Adultery: your spouse has cheated on you.

2) Desertion: your spouse has left the marital home (called “actual desertion”) or you were justified in leaving the marital home (called “constructive desertion”), the desertion is deliberate and final, and 12-months have passed.

3) If your spouse was convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, has been sentenced to serve at least three years or an indeterminate sentence, and has served at least 12 months of that sentence.

4) Insanity: If your spouse has been confined to a mental institution or hospital for at least three years prior to filing for divorce and at least two physicians testify at trial that the insanity is incurable and there is no hope of recovery.

5) Cruelty of treatment involves either physical or verbal abuse where the spouses conduct endangers the life or health of their spouse or minor child(ren) which makes living together unsafe.

6) Excessively vicious conduct involves a pattern of serious domestic violence or some other severe physical or emotional action.